Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor – Today in History: May 13 | ConnecticutHistory.org Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor – Today in History: May 13 Shaving Machine patent, Jacob Schick, May 13, 1930, Stamford On May 13, 1930, Colonel Jacob Schick obtained patent No. 1,757,978 for his dry electric shaver. The idea of creating an electric razor came to him while he recuperated from an injury suffered while doing some gold exploration in Alaska and British Columbia in the early 1910s. Finding it difficult to shave and, at the same time, having time on his hands while recuperating, Schick drew up crude plans that featured a shaver with a shaving head driven by a flexible cable and powered by a grapefruit-sized external motor. Plans for the machine were sent out, and manufacturers quickly rejected the bulky invention. Further plans to perfect the electric dry shaver were put on hold when Schick returned to active military duty during World War I.

Later, inspired by weaponry he saw in the service, Schick went to work to develop the Magazine Repeating Razor, and in 1925 he started a company of the same name. The razor’s design used the principles of repeating firearms, and blades were sold in clips and loaded into the razor, without ever having to touch them. Although the Magazine Repeating Razor did well in the marketplace, Schick went back to developing the dry electric razor, and in 1927 his invention was fully marketable. So sure was he of the electric dry shaver’s potential, Schick sold the assets of his razor company in 1928 in order to capitalize the new invention. In 1930 the firm was incorporated as Schick Dry Shaver, Inc. Although the early electric razor did not meet widespread acceptance, as Schick had hoped, he was able to open a factory in Stamford which employed 100 people. The business grew steadily as new models were introduced, and in 1940 Schick Dry Shaver was incorporated in Delaware as Rainbow, Inc.

In 1946 the name was changed to Schick, Inc., and in 1981 Norelco took over operations. Today, Norelco is located where Schick operated his electric shaver factory in Stamford. LEARN MORE Documents Schick, Jacob. Patent Number 1,452,935 - Safety Razor. US1452935 A. New York, NY, issued April 24, 1923. Link . Schick, Jacob. Patent Number 1,721,530 - Shaving Implement. 1,721,530. Stamford, CT, issued July 23, 1929. Link . Schick, Jacob. Patent Number 1,757,978 - Shaving Machine. US1757978 A. Stamford, CT, issued May 13, 1930. Link . Enjoyed reading this? Share it with friends » Similar Electric Razor - All-TIME 100 Gadgets - TIME By Peter HaMonday, Oct.

25, 2010 Alex Wilson / Getty Images Patented by Jacob Schick in 1928, the electric razor was made available in 1931 and was later improved by Remington and Philips Laboratories with revolving heads. It isn't a stretch of the imagination to say that Schick's original design paved the way for personal-hygiene gizmos like nose-hair trimmers  proving that not all good gadgets are sexy. electric razor | shaving device | Britannica.com Electric razor THIS IS A DIRECTORY PAGE. Britannica does not currently have an article on this topic. Learn about this topic in these articles: in razor Electric razors were patented as early as 1900 in the United States, but the first to be successfully manufactured was that on which Jacob Schick, a retired U.S. Army colonel, applied for a patent in 1928 and that he placed on the market in 1931. Competitive models soon appeared. In the electric razor a shearing head, driven by a small motor, is divided into two sections: the outer consists of... Who Invented the Razor? | eHow Who Invented the Razor?

FinishWell Over the centuries, men and women have used different methods to remove unwanted body hair. Shaving is the fastest and easiest way to remove body hair and it has improved continuously. The basic element of shaving is the razor. A razor is a bladed tool that cuts off the unwanted body hair. There have been different types of razors invented by different people. Early razors The first types of sharpened stone pieces used for shaving date back to the Stone Age. The razors were made out of flint or other types of stone (sometimes horns) and had very sharp edges. During the Bronze Age, razors were round in shape and usually made out of bronze or obsidian (a volcanic rock). Straight razors A straight razor is a shaving instrument formed by a blade that folds into the handle. The blade is usually made of steel and its narrow end rotates on a pin (pivot) between two protective pieces (scales). It was first produced in Sheffield, England, at the beginning of the 18th century. Using a straight razor requires good shaving skills and the blades often need to be honed and stropped to be sharp (see link in Resources section below). The straight razor is still used today by some barbers.

Safety razors The safety razor was invented by Jean-Jacques Perret at the end of the 18th century. He was inspired by the shaping wood tool called plane. King Gillette in 1901 developed the idea and created the safety razor with cheap disposable blades that is still used today. The method was improved over the years, but the basis is the same. King Gillette's blade was double-edged and the razor was T-shaped. The top could be removed in order to insert a new blade. Today Gillette razors have cartridges with multiple blades. The first blade lifts the hair and cuts its top. The other blades cut the hair to skin level. Electric razors The electric razor was invented by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jacob Schick in 1927. First, he created the Magazine Repeated Razor, with replacement razors inside the handle, so the person using it didn't have to touch the blades while changing them. His idea was inspired by the repeating rifle. His dry electric shaver had oscillating blades and was patented in 1931. In the Netherlands, the first double-headed electric shaver was invented by Alexandre Horowitz at Philips Company.

The electric shavers were developed over the years, mostly by the Remington Rand Corporation. Other types The quick shave razor was invented by Herbie McNinch in Houston, Texas in 1995. Being tired of spending so much time shaving every day, he created the double-headed wet shave razor. The headblade was invented by Todd Greene and is specially designed for head hair. The manual hair clipper was invented by Nikola Bizumic and was created to cut hair. Today the manual clipper is rarely used, as the electric clipper is more popular and easy to use. The first electric clipper version was invented in early 1921 by Mathew Andis. Shop fixes old shavers while customers wait - tribunedigital-baltimoresun Shop fixes old shavers while customers wait February 24, 1995|By Tom Keyser | Tom Keyser,Sun Staff Writer SILVER SPRING -- Rozier Carter rushes into the Electric Shaver Shop of Maryland, a five-o'clock shadow on his face and a 1983 Remington in his hand. "I had a helluva time finding this place," he pants. Peering out from behind the counter, Charles A.

McKean proclaims in a deadpan voice: "That's because there ain't no other place like this place." The Electric Shaver Shop, a sliver of a store at 8211 Fenton St. in downtown Silver Spring, is a specialty shop nonpareil. Mr. McKean and his daughter not only repair your shaver while you wait, but also display about 250 electric shavers dating to the early 1930s. "I've got every Schick that was ever made," Mr. McKean declares. The breathless Mr. Carter, 79, after discovering the shop in the yellow pages, drove 45 minutes from his home near Upper Marlboro to get here. He's used an electric shaver for 60 years and wants to hold onto his 12-year-old Remington, he says. "Where else can you get an old shaver serviced?" says Mr. Carter, looking around, beginning to notice the antique shavers in display cases. "Geez," he says, finally, "this is an unusual place." Mr.

McKean, 70, opened the Electric Shaver Shop in 1956 after working eight years for the Schick company in Washington. He opened four other service centers in Washington and Virginia, but this one in Silver Spring is the last of his line. As a service man and then service manager for Schick, Mr. McKean grew fond of the small whirring motors and the snug fit dTC of a shapely shaver in his hand. He began saving the older Schicks that customers traded in for new models. He not only squirreled away Schicks but also Remingtons, Norelcos, Sunbeams, Ronsons, Eltrons and Brauns. Customers gave him old shavers, even willed them to him. Each brand has its own display case, but there's space in the small shop for only about half of Mr. McKean's collection. Packed away are four original Schicks that Mr. McKean says Col. Jacob Schick himself may have manufactured in his garage in 1929 or 1930.

Colonel Schick, retired from the Army, patented the first successful electric razor in 1928 and began marketing it in 1931. But before 1931, Mr. McKean says, the retired colonel made shavers at his New England home and sold them himself. "You'd have to put a $10,000 price on each of them," says Mr. McKean of the heavy shavers that still work today. "There are no others, as far as I know." Elliot Sivowitch, a museum specialist in the Division of Electricity and Modern Physics at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, says he knows of no others either. Mr. Sivowitch says someone gave the museum 155 electric shavers about 20 years ago. They date from the early 1930s to the early 1960s. That's pretty much the extent of the Smithsonian's shaver collection, he says. "We've heard about some toaster collections recently, and even collections of electric fans," Mr. Sivowitch says. "But electric shavers?

Maybe they're a little too esoteric." That's not the case in Stamford, Conn., Colonel Schick's hometown and site of his first factory. Linda Baulsir, director of the Stamford Historical Society, says the society has an extensive collection of Schick shavers dating to the late 1930s. But she says it doesn't include the earliest ones. Neither she nor Mr. Sivowitch had heard of the Electric Shaver Shop. Tucked between a locksmith and a shoe-repair store, it caters to a steady stream of customers, nearly all older men. A notable exception was Lady Bird Johnson, who walked in when the store in Washington was still open and her husband was vice president. She handed Mr. McKean three Ronson shavers. Mr. McKean recalls that she said: "Lyndon wants to have them serviced. And he wants a carton of pre-shave." She returned a couple of times, Mr. McKean says, until her husband became president. Then Secret Service agents brought his Ronsons. Agents earlier had dropped off President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Norelco. Mr.

McKean and his daughter Linda Wilson haven't serviced presidents' shavers since LBJ -- as far as they know. What about President Clinton? "He probably uses a blade," Mrs. Wilson says. The Electric Shaver Shop is now almost exclusively in Mrs. Wilson's hands. Her father "retired" to Delaware about 10 years ago and comes back just a few days each month to give her time off. Of his three children, all daughters, Mrs. Wilson was the only one interested in shavers. Now 44, she says: "I can't picture myself doing anything else. I never get tired of it." She services and repairs shavers, recharges batteries and sells new shavers and related merchandise six days a week. The store's motto: "If it's for electric shaving, we have it." MORE: March 18, 1931: The Schick Hits the Fans | WIRED March 18, 1931: The Schick Hits the Fans subscribe 6 months for $5 - plus a FREE Portable Phone Charger.

On Twitter 4 hours Slack has started rolling out threaded messaging, which allows users to connect related messages in a given chatroom bit.ly/2joimKu Author: Randy Alfred. Randy Alfred Date of Publication: 03.18.11. Time of Publication: 7:00 am. 7:00 am March 18, 1931: The Schick Hits the Fans 1931: The first practical, electric shavers go on sale. They’re definitely a cut above their clumsy predecessors. The gizmos were the brainchild of Jacob Schick . He served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and after. Schick developed dysentery in the tropics, and after a yearlong recovery, the Army transferred him to Alaska for his health. Schick was a key member of the team that strung more than a thousand miles of military telegraph lines into the harsh Alaskan interior. He also designed the General Jacobs Boat, for use in shallow water. After retiring from the Army in 1910, Schick explored for gold in Alaska and British Columbia.

He liked the adventure but hated shaving in the 40-below weather. (At that exact temp, BTW, it doesn’t matter whether the weather is measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit .) When he broke his ankle and had to stay in camp to recuperate, Schick set his mind to devising a more comfortable way to shave. He devised rough plans, so to speak, for a shaving head at the end of a flexible cable that was powered by an external motor. He sent the idea to manufacturers, and they quickly rejected the idea. Schick returned to active duty when the United States entered World War I. As a lieutenant colonel, he headed the Army’s intelligence and criminal-investigation unit in England. After the war, he wanted to improve and market his electric shaver invention, but needed capital. So he applied the concept of the ammunition clip to the razor with the Magazine Repeating Razor. It was a forerunner of the injector razor: You could load and unload the blade without risk of cutting your fingers. He sold that business off to return to the electric shaver.

With exquisite timing, he put his first electric shavers on the market in 1929, just in time for the stock market collapse and ensuing Great Depression. The early models didn’t sell well. The design was still a clumsy contraption with a heavy motor connected by a metal cable to the reciprocating shaving head. Business was so bad that the Schicks had to mortgage their home to get money to keep the company going. But Schick figured out how to make his product a success by making it handy. He got rid of the flexible cable and put a small electric motor inside the same unit as the shaving head . The entire apparatus was encased in sleek, black bakelite and fit comfortably in your hand. An electric appliance cord supplied power to the motor, which had to be kick-started by a turn-wheel switch on the unit. Schick set up a factory in Stamford, Connecticut. The new model went on sale in New York City on March 18, 1931. They sold for $25 each (that’s about $360 in today’s money).

About 3,000 moved the first year, and sales increased until 1.5 million were in users’ hands by 1937. Despite early claims, they didn’t shave closer than a wet steel blade, but the shavers were convenient. And when you factor in the cost of blades, shaving cream and other appurtenances needed for a wet shave, fans didn’t think it seemed so expensive after all. Especially when prices dropped as competitors like Remington, Sunbeam, Philips, Zenith and even Gillette got in on the market. Schick got rich and retired to Canada. But his lingering health problems caught up with him, and he died in 1937. He said the lifespan of a man who shaved correctly every day would be 120 — he lived less than half that time. Source: Electric Shaver Page Image: Schick’s earliest prototype for the electric shaver was a bulky, two-handed affair. (National Housewares Manufacturers Association) This article first appeared on Wired.com March 18, 2009.

See Also: Electric Shaver Museum, Electric Safety Razors exhibition (no-frames/text-only version) Electric Shaver Museum, Electric Safety Razors exhibition Introduction This is the no-frames/text-only version of the Electric Safety Razors exhibition of the Electric Shaver Museum. To see the photographs in this exhibition, or to visit E|S|M's other exhibitions click here (unless forced, not available for mobile devices with a screenwidth less than 640 pixels). Introduction of electric shaving Jacob Schick's invention of an electric dry shaver at the end of the 1920's was not the only line along which the development of electric shaving took place. The other one was the electrification of safety razors. Below you will find an overview of safety razors with a kind of drive, some electric, some driven by a clockwork and some by moving the razor over the skin. Chronological index Early patents In 1898 the first electric razor patent was granted to a John F. O'Rourke of New York (USA). Another early electric razor was invented by Isaac N. Brigham of Melrose Park (IL USA) for the Electro Automatic Safety Razor Company (1907).

This company's factory was located at 510 West Chapman Avenue, Orange (CA USA). The buildings have been demolished May 1989. In the early years of the last century there have been more electrically or mechanically (e.g. spring-powered) driven safety razors, but there is no proof that these shaving devices have been a commercial success. Lek-tro-shav For the Lek-tro-shav safety razor patents were granted in 1913 and 1917, which makes the Lek-tro-shav one of the first electric razors. The single edge razor uses 110 Volt power from a lightbulb socket and has a vibrating system in the handle. The razor was manufactured by Vibrating Electric Razor Co. of Omaha (Nebraska, USA). There has been at least one other model Lek-tro-shav. Collins Safety Razor Cap Bertrand Collins was the inventor of the Collins Rotary Safety Razor, fitted with a round razor blade slowly turned by a spring loaded mechanism in the rather large handle. The first Collins patent is dated 9 February 1915; later more patents were granted for improvements.

The razors were manufactured in the Collins factories located at West Lake Street, Chicago (IL, USA). Some sources state that later on the company had another address: Collins Safety Razors at Franklin (PA, USA). Collins also produced a fixed blade version of the shaver, not much more than a round safety razor. Lee Razor Another curious invention from the 1920s was the Lee Midget razor. On this razor the blade gained a vibrating effect when the rollers next to it are driven by contact with the skin. The rotation of the roller was mechanically changed into a reciprocating motion of the razor blade. The Lee razor was based on several patents of George Browning and Leander H. LaChance, from 1920 and later (see E|S|M's patents library). As an announcement in Popular Mechanics of January 1922 shows, the razor was introduced probably in the last months of 1921. King Oscillator Razor The King Oscillator has the same way of driving the blade: the blade gained a vibrating effect when the rollers on top of it are driven by contact with the skin. The rotation of the roller was mechanically changed into a reciprocating motion of the razor blade.

The razor was based on patents granted to John L. King in the 1920's. The razor was introduced in the 1920s. In the 1950s the razor was still sold, supplied with a beautiful wood and metal packaging. The King Oscillator was a double edge safety razor. There has also been a Rotary King, a single edge safety razor. The razors were manufactured by the Rotary King Safety Razor Company (New York, NY USA) and later on by the King Oscillator Razor Co., in Minneapolis (MN USA), which company had a sales office in New York. Redox Rolling Razor The Redox Rolling Razor very much resembles the King Oscillator and it has the same way of driving the blade. The Redox was based on various British patents filed in 1935 by Charles Dixon and Harold J.W. Raphael of London (UK). Several versions of this razor have been produced in Great Britain and sold by Modern Traders Ltd. from the 1930s. The Redox razors usually were supplied with an imitation crocodile-skin box.

Vibro-shave The Vibro-Shave electric razor was manufactured by the Electric (Safety) Razor Corp., which was located in Long Island City (NY, USA), and (initially) sold by the Electric Razor Sales Company of America, with offices at Chicago, New York City and Montreal. The Vibro-Shave was a double edge safety razor with a small AC-only machine in the handle, which made the apparatus vibrate. In 1925 a patent for this "vibratory razor" was granted to Saul Shaler of New York, and assigned to the Electric Safety Razor Corp. The patent describes a solenoid magnet and a spring return to provide the vibratory movement. Usually the razor took alternating current, in the early days from a light bulb socket. For direct current an interrupter device could be used. The Vibro-Shave razors have been sold in the second half of the 1920s and later. Unlike the Lek-tro-shav and the Collins, there are still many Vibro-Shaves on the second-hand market, which means that this must have been one of the first successful electric safety razors. Several versions of this shaver have been produced.

There was a Model A (chromium plated, without on/off-switch, $5.-) and a Model B (gold plated, with on/off-switch, $7.50). Vibro-Shave also marketed a beauty-set. Electro-Shave The ElectroShave electric safety razor resembles the Lek-tro-shav mentioned above. For this razor a patent was granted to Robert F. and Peter Elzinga of Holland (MI USA) in 1930. It was manufactured by the Safety Razor Company of Grand Rapids (MI USA). Do not confuse the ElectroShave brand with the Electro-Shav razors (not in this overview). Cameron Electromaton Co. On August 1, 1915 William John (Will) Cameron (1879-1953) opened his American Surgical Specialty Company (from 1922 called Cameron's Surgical Specialty Company) for business at 6 East Lake Street, in Chicago. The company's main product were surgical lamps. The 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression had a bad effect upon Cameron's Surgical.

The company did not shut down thanks to some innovative products, like the "heartometer", the cauterodyne (a bloodless surgical knife) and a flexible gastroscope. The company also found new products, like an illuminated safety razor. For the razors an affiliated business was opened at 666 W. Division Street in Chicago. The trademark Electromaton was first used May 20, 1929 and published in December of the same year. The first product was an illuminated men's razor, which Cameron patented in Germany. Later Cameron manufactured two types of electric safety razors, the Electromaton and the Electromatonette, which was a razor with a beautyset and a toothbrush. Rasoir électrique Klaro Also in Europe electric safety razors were manufactured. An early example of the promising electric shaver industry in France, before World War II, is the Klaro razor, manufactured in Marseille in the South of France, and probably based on an invention by Ferdinand O'Conill of the same city. The razorblade is driven by a flexible shaft from an external motor, like the electric animal clippers and clippers in modern barbershops in the 1920s.

The razor is seldom found on the second-hand market, so probably it has not been a commercial success. This advertisement was published on 7 March 1931. Siemens Rasier Maschine Unlike the Klaro, the Siemens SiRaMa (Siemens-Rasier-Maschine) has been a rather popular electric safety razor on the continent of Europe. In 1932 Siemens announced in "Siemens Mitteilungen", the company's house organ, that the company marketed a new shaver. Unlike many other brands in the 1930s the SiRaMa has a real moving blade, so not the complete razor is vibrating, but only the blade. A triangular spindle, driven by a very small real motor, pushed the razorblade slightly to and fro. The razor took power from a 4.5 Volt battery (in a separate box) to prevent electric shocks from the mains. With the razor Siemens also marketed a blade sharpener. The razor was based on a patent of Georg Biniek of Berlin (DE) and has been manufactured until about 1938. Elrasor Another German electric safety razor was the Elrasor.

This razor was marketed (and probably at least as far as the motor is concerned also manufactured) by the company Gebrüder Steidinger (Steidinger Bros.) at St. Georgen in the Black Forest in southwest Germany. The company was founded in 1900 by Christian Steidinger to produce parts for wind-up mechanisms and clockworks. Later the company specialized in (small) electric motors. Steidinger Bros. became famous in the 1950s and 1960s for its turntables with the brandname Dual. The company also sold electric dryshavers (see E|S|M's Dual exhibition). An advertisement from the 1930s shows that Steidinger Bros. sold a Pandora razorblade sharpener with it. Tark Like the Vibro-Shave Electric Razor, the Tark razor has been invented by Saul Shaler (application filed 1932, patent granted 1935). Also like the Vibro-Shave the Tark razor was produced in Long Island City (NY USA). The Tark Electric Razor Co.

has been selling razors from 1932 until about 1940, when Tark's sales corporation was dissolved (Tark's production corporation seems to have been dissolved already in 1938). There have been several versions of Tark's single edge electric safety razor, including the "Aristocrat" model. Racine Racine (a town in Wisconsin USA) is famous for its lighthouses, but even more for its important role in the development of small electric motors. Several manufacturers of electrical products were established in Racine. The Racine Senior DeLuxe and the DeLuxe Esquire were manufactured by Racine Universal Motor Co. in the 1940s. This company's policy was to produce the motors for various products, and have specialised manufacturers produce other parts, like in this case the Gillette Company the shaving head. Racine Universal Motor Co. already existed in the 1920s and also produced hairclippers (brand Race and others), hairdryers etc. The company sold its OEM-products to various wholesalers, like W.L. Henne of Erie (PA USA) who sold the razor as Vibo-Shaver.

Ericsson, Miracle and other USA brands A great variety of motors with a razor attached to it has been produced. For example the razor with the Ericsson brand on the double edge safety razorpart. Ericsson Safety Razor Co. operated in Brooklyn (NY USA) as a manufacturer of safety razors. The motorpart may have been produced by another company. Another example is the Miracle Electric Razor, marketed by Miracle Products Co. of Chicago (IL USA) in the 1930s. Electro-Shav The Electro-Shav safety razor has been manufactured by Rochelle Specialties Co. at Rochelle (IL, USA) from 1937 until the end of the 1940s. Occasionally these razors turn up at eBay, so it may not have been a giant success. It is a normal dual edge safety razor, to use on an electrical outlet of 110-120 Volts A.C. "When this is not available, simply use as any non-electric safety razor", says the manual. Gravin Heat Shaver The Gravin Heat Shaver surely is something special among the electrical safety razors.

The razor has no moving parts at all, but the special thing about it is that the double edge blade is heated by electricity like a soldering iron. Probably it has not been easy to use this shaver because there was no temperaturecontrol of the blade: one had to simply unplug the razor when it became too hot. The Gravin Corporation was located at Rochester (NY USA) and the Gravin Heat Shaver was based on a patent granted to Mozes M. Gravin of the same city in 1943. Stahly Live Blade razor This razor had a small but significant success in the USA that started with an eye-catching advertising-campaign with subjects on hunting and fishing, with artwork by James M. Sessions. Several Stahly razor models were marketed from 1946 until the 1960s. The razors were driven by a spring-powered mechanism, that produced "about 3,000 vibrations-per-minute of positive shaving action". Initially Stahly Inc. was located at South Bend, Indiana, USA. Later Stahly became part of another company and moved to Milwaukee (WI, USA). Stahly's razors were based on patents by Russell P. Harshberger of Chicago.

There have been four or five versions of the Stahly razor. You may find more information in E|S|M's special Stahly exhibition. Lektron and Coronet The Lektron Corporation of New York (NY USA) sold the Lektron and Coronet electric wet shavers in the second half of the 1940s or in the 1950s. At first the razor was called Lektron, but, probably because of a trademark infringement, the shavers were renamed to Coronet. There have been several versions of the shaver, a cream and red one and a grey version. Gillette Orbitor 4000 In 1965 the Gillette company introduced the Techmatic Band razor: inside a cartridge there was a coiled strip razor blade. The user could advance the blade strip to the next part with a crank lever when the part used became blunt. The Techmatic razor was not a great success. Nevertheless Gillette did not hesitate to introduce a vibrating electric version of the razor: the Orbitor 4000 (introduction 1968, patent granted in 1971). Only few Orbitors have been sold.

In 1971 Gillette developed another vibrating battery-operated razor (patents granted in 1972 and 1973), but because of poor performance in a test market this razor was never introduced. Firem and Micro-Electric An electric wet shaver which has been sold for quite some time is this Firem razor, introduced in 1969. The Firem razors have been on the market in the 1970s and 1980s. Some models are marketed by Firem Elektrorasiergeräte GmbH of Germany, but Firem is an Italian company: Fabbrica Italiana Rasoi Elettrici Milano, based in Milano. In the USA the same razor was sold by Alexander Sales Corp. of Mount Vernon (NY, USA) as Micro-Electric Safety Razor or Micro-Electric Shaver. Tiffin Action Shave The Tiffin Action Shave razor is a battery powered double edge safety razor. A patent for this razor was granted to Victor Tiffin in 1972. The wooden box supplied with the razor made the set quite a curiosity.

"The Tiffin Razor was designed for people like you who want the finer things in life", says the manual. The Tiffin Action Shave Razor Co. was located at Elgin (IL USA). Vibrating battery razors, Remington In the 1980s and 1990s there was a small revival of vibrating electric safety razors when Chinese factories started production of rather simple plastic vibrating battery razors, for example for Remington with this double bladed single edge razor called Lektro Blade. The same razor was also made for other wholesalers. Dynablade In 1997 the company The Sharper Image (internetstore and shops in the USA) introduced the Dynablade 4000 and later the Dynablade M3 razor. The razors used a very small battery powered motor with an oscillating blade: Gillette's Sensor or Mach3 respectively. This rubbed Gillette the wrong way. Gillette sued for multiple patent infringement and the Dynablade was soon taken off the market. Sharper Image later sold the Dynablade TurboGrip, which is still battery powered, but now holds the entire handle of many different blades.

Gillette M3Power and more Whether or not inspired by the Dynablade, spring 2004 the Gillette company gave the electric safetyrazor conception another try. It introduced the M3Power as the newest member of the successful Mach3 family. In September 2004 the razor has been introduced in Europe. Inside the handle is a very small vibrating motor, which uses power from one AAA-battery. According to Gillette the "motor sends micro-pulses to the blades. Micro-pulses raise hair up and away from the skin so you can shave closer and more thoroughly in one easy power stroke". Both Mach3Turbo blades and the new "PowerGlide" blades fit the razor, but the PowerGlide blades are manufactured with a new, patented coating process which, again according to Gillette, produces "Gillette's smoothest blade surface ever for incredible glide and comfort". Later innovations include M3Power Nitro (2005), Fusion Power (2006) and Fusion Power Stealth (2007 in Europe). In the USA the Fusion Power Stealth is called Fusion Power Phantom.

Gillette also brought an exclusive version of this razor, the Fusion Chrome Collection Power Razor, for sale at the The Art of Shaving shops in the USA. Spring 2008 the Fusion Power Phantom has been replaced by the Fusion Power Phenom (in the USA). The Fusion razors have five blades plus a precision trimmerblade on the back of the shaving head. In 2005 Venus Vibrance for ladies was introduced. Schick - Wilkinson SWord In reaction to Gillette's success with the M3 Power, the Schick - Wilkinson Sword company (nowadays part of Energizer Holdings, Inc. of St. Louis, MO USA) introduced the Quattro Power and the Quattro Titanium Energy. In 2008 Schick/Wilkinson Sword introduced a real innovation with its Quattro Titanium Precision, which is in fact a wetshaving system and a precision trimmer in one device, one of the first real hybride shaving systems. In 2009 this razor has been introduced as women's razor with the name Quattro Bikini.

Emjoi Rotoshave Emjoi is a brand of Soft Lines International Ltd., a Hong Kong based company manufacturing shavers and epilators in the province of Guangdong, China. Emjoi's administrative headquarters are in New York (NY, USA). Emjoi has a strong market presence in Japan and Australia and is featured in leading department stores, such as Macy's, throughout the USA. Emjoi's products are sold in the USA by Emjoi Inc. and in Australia and New Zealand by Sunbeam Corp. of Australia. Emjoi also manufactures products for over 60 private label customers, well known brands such as Babyliss, Grundig, Remington, Arcelik, Arzum, Valera, Glen Dimplex, Medisana, OBH Nordica, Team, Tescom and Carrera among them. The company was established in 1988. In 2008 Emjoi introduced the Emjoi Rotoshave. Nine rotating blades touch the skin at 30 revolutions per second. Patented safety guards act as a barrier between the blade and the skin to avoid nicks or cuts. The razor also has patented spiral windings to avoid irritation.

The shaver is cordless and includes an electric wet shave feature. Emjoi markets other electric wet shavers, most of them with vibrating shaving systems, like the Emjoi RolleShave Classic and the Emjoi Power 9 Ladies Razor. Braun BodycruZer Summer 2008 Braun introduced a hybride razor: the bodycruZer. In 2008 two versions have been introduced: bodycruZer B30 and bodycruZer B50. B50 has an extra trimming attachment, a soft pouch and another color, but in other respect it is the same shaver. In 2009 two more versions have been introduced: bodycruZer B55 (titanium) and bodycruZer B35 (white). The bodycruZer is marketed as a bodyshaver. The B50 and B30 are trimmers with a Gillette M3Power (triple blade) connected to it. B35 and B55 have a Gillette Fusion razor (fivefold blade) attached.

Braun is related to Gillette since 1967 when Gillette bought the company to enter the dry shaving market. Since 2005 Gillette and Braun are part of Procter & Gamble, one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer goods. Sources/literature  Kurt Moe, Phillip Krumholz a.o., The Razor Anthology, Knife World Publications, Knoxville (TE USA) 1995  Phillip L. Krumholz, A history of shaving and razors, published by the author, Bartonville (IL USA) 1987  Phillip L.

Krumholz, The complete Gillette collector's handbook, published by the author, Bartonville (IL USA) 1992  Franco Lorenzi, Rasoi e lame, barbe e baffi, Silvana Editoriale, Milano (IT) 2003  Amy van Hoosier (ed.), Safety Razors, a price guide, L-W Book Sales, Gas City (IN USA) 1995  Helmut Beermann, Solingen, ein Streifzug durch fï¿½nf Jahrhunderte Messer und Klingen, Eigenverlag Martor, Solingen (DE) 1993 Electric Shaver Museum Please note that this is the no-frames/text-only version of E|S|M's Electric Safety Razors exhibition. To see the photographs in this exhibition, or to see E|S|M's other exhibitions click here (unless forced, not available for mobile devices with a screenwidth less than 640 pixels). Texts, photographs and illustrations © 1999-2011 Peter de Weijer (E|S|M), unless indicated otherwise.

Noncommercial use of the information on this site is permitted provided the source is stated expressly. E | S | M A Brief History of Shaving | Mental Floss A Brief History of Shaving Image credit: Like us on Facebook Most of us pick up a razor at least every couple of days, and although shaving's a little tedious, it's not too much of a hassle. It hasn't always been quite so easy, though. Let's take a look at the history of shaving. It Could Get a Little Rough Pre-Gillette In the days before razors, you could either sport a hirsute look or get creative. Records drawn on cave walls show prehistoric people shaving with clamshells, flint knives, and even shark teeth. It's not clear when these crude implements gave way to what we now think of as razors. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, circular solid gold or copper razors can be found as far back as the 4th millennium BC in some Egyptian tombs. Still other cultures sharpened volcanic obsidian glass and used those.

Another story posits that the Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Priscus introduced the razor to his people in the 6th century BC, but shaving didn't really catch on with Romans for another hundred years or so. In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great encouraged his men to shave so enemies couldn't grab their beards during melees. Alexander's subjects were often shaved using a novacila, a block of iron with one edge sharpened, which sounds like a great way to shred your face. Julius Caesar supposedly preferred to have his beard plucked out with tweezers, although other Roman men used razors or rubbed the beards from their faces using pumice stones. (Ouch!) It Didn't Get Safe Until 1828 Designs for safety razors date back to at least 1762, but they didn't really catch on until 1828, when they debuted in Sheffield, England.

In 1847 William Henson invented the hoe-shaped razor that most of us have in our medicine cabinets, and in 1895 a traveling salesman named King Camp Gillette (pictured) combined this shape with the idea of shaving with a disposable double-edged blade. The resulting safety razor eventually made Gillette a fortune and solved the hassle of having to remove the razor's blade to sharpen it every few shaves. The idea was great, but there was a problem: the blades weren't easy to make. It took another six years for Gillette to find someone who could actually make the disposable blades. MIT professor William Nickerson joined up with Gillette to figure out a way to stamp the blades out of sheets of high-carbon steel, and by 1903 they had their first batch of razors ready to take on America's beards. By 1906 Gillette's design was moving 300,000 units a year. Interestingly, Gillette sold the razors at a loss, but he more than made up for it by selling the blades at a huge profit.

Although Gillette's invention came from his notion that he should invent something people bought, threw away, and then repurchased, he wasn't your typical capitalist. He became a strong proponent of utopian socialism later in his life and planned a community in Arizona in which engineers would rationally orchestrate all activity. Gillette even offered Teddy Roosevelt $1 million to serve as president of this planned utopia in 1910, but Roosevelt declined. Things Got Electric in the Twenties People have been patenting and trying to market electric razors since 1900, but at first they met with little success. (One failed model from 1910 ran on clockwork.) In 1928 a retired Army colonel named Jacob Schick patented an electric razor he had designed, and the world finally had a winner. Schick razors took store shelves by storm in 1931, and they quickly sold millions of units. The real winners in this transition from wet shaving with soap and a brush to electric razors were badgers.

Their hair had been highly prized for wet shaving brushes because it retained water so well, so more than a few badgers were spared a shearing as America started plugging in their electric Schicks. Like King Camp Gillette, Jacob Schick was a bit of an odd duck. Part of the reason he went into the shaving business was that he really, really believed in the benefits of shaving. In fact, Schick supposedly thought that if a man shaved often enough, he could lengthen his life to 120 years. The Real Arms Race Started in the 1960s After years of losing market share to their electric competition, Gillette finally hit upon a winning innovation in 1960 when it introduced stainless steel blades. These newer blades were tougher to hone, but they lasted much longer and didn't rust. Consumers loved them. Bic introduced the first totally disposable razors in the sixties as well, which made shaving even more convenient. Gillette struck another blow in 1971 when it introduced the two-blade razor. Other companies followed suit, and now it's just a matter of time before we're all shaving with a 17-bladed behemoth. [Image courtesy of Wikimedia .]

Question: Who patented the electric razor in 1931?
Answer: Jacob Schick